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Scientologist ASBOed for being over 36

And Vista begs you to understand

Comments A man dubbed "Leeds’s dumbest criminal" has been served with an ASBO forbidding him from posting videos of criminal activity on the internet. Andrew Kellett, 23, had been in the habit of showing off his exploits on YouTube, which made some of you wonder why he hadn't been convicted of the acts he seemed so proud of, and why he'd been effectively barred from providing evidence against himself.

Is this really the best way to deal with criminals? prevent them from giving you evidence so you don't have to investigate their crimes.

Do we have a bunch of Fred Colons and Nobby Nobbies running that police force? do they stand on street corners making sure not to see anything too alarming?

Martin Owens


What ever happened to Free Speech? He has a right to post anything unless it is illegal surely? If he wants to give the Dibble all the info they need to get an easy arrest then that's his own stupidity but I am personally going to fund a campaign to get this overturned and have him declared a National hero with the keys to the City of Leeds and stuff.

Andy Hards


Free speech? As far as I can tell, it's been abolished in the UK to the extent that it ever existed (ie, the government suffers the population to have it despite there being no particular legal reason for it to exist). Despite that it still kind of amazes me that you guys seem to tolerate your government having the power to arbitrarily apply any punishment to any situation. You're posting videos we don't like? You now have an ASBO to... let's see... move to London and wear pink hats on Tuesday! Right, then...

David Wiernicki


Civitas surveyed prisoners and found that the average is about 140 crimes per year - with druggies committing over 250. At that rate, it does seem likely if you've already committed a load of offences and didn't get caught, then one more won't materially affect their chances of getting nicked. So yes, it does seem like baddies can commit crimes with impunity. Likewise, I'd be surprised if the penalty for committing 140 crimes is going to be much different from committing 139, so once you''ve started down that path, where's the incentive to stop?

So this guy with his 80 offences on video - at the going rate he's somewhere between 1/3rd and halfway towards getting his collar felt. Quite a way to go before he even reaches the average for getting caught. No wonder he's not worried.

Pete


You can almost hear the plod discussing this.

Inspector - "Sargent, this youf has posted 80 videos of him taking part in illegal acts, and we haven't stopped him or caught him. He's making us look like fools"

Sargent - "Surely we're doing that ourselves sir."

Insp - "Well yes, but he is making it worst. We've got to stop him, there's nothing else we can do."

Sgt - "Certainly sir, we'll stop him posting those videos immediately."

Insp - "Good show Sargent. That'll be much easier that catching him actually doing anything illegal. Anyway it's not like he's copying MP3's or anything _really_ serious, eh?"

Anonymous Coward


City of London police issued a court summons to a teenager for brandishing a sign calling the Church of Scientology a cult. The Crown Prosecution Service later decided not to prosecute, but outrage at the sign-taking is unabated:

For the student: little worries, it will take time but this will be thrown out of court and a justice will speak sternly of the police while apologizing to the student. [FFS, it's the plods that should apologize, not the justice dept.]

For next time, maybe spread the message over several independent signs --- "Scientology" "is a fuckin" "g cult" comes to mind --- and thus escape. This not only helps evade, but also increases sign-size a lot.

You could even prepare several statements, but planning ahead and training (and having a few different extra signs in reserve). Extra cunningly, train in a few silly or ungrammatical nonstatements, to claim any message is "accidental, and probably caused by a god displeased with the cult of xenu".

For those with time on their hands, go look stressed at the scientologists' little desk, that appear about every saturday just north of the square mile [Islington Angel: 100yards from the tube, opposite side, just before the split of Upper Street and .. eh, is it Essex Street?]. They are always sitting there with their "are you stressed" free test, and dianetics books (but no interdimensional aliens, natch -- that might convince me).

Marvin the Martian


where's Boris when you need him? I'm sure he would side with the protester and stand up for his right to free speech (as long as he wasn't a scouser)

Anonymous Coward


Yet another example of how section 5 of the public order act gives the poilce arbitary power to restrict expression. When will the country wake up and force parliment to revoke this oppressive law?

Anonymous


What's wrong with "cult"?

Merriam-Webster says:

1.formal religious veneration : worship

2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents

3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents

4: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>

Sounds perfectly good. Christianity is a "cult". Maybe the cops should learn the use of proper english? Or the protesters should.

Anonymous Coward


I think that the Brighton civil rights groups are going to cause problems for the protests. I've seen their little newsletter and they seem to be far more interested in fighting the plod than protesting the Clut of Scientology.

For anyone interested in this who isn't following the Enturbulation boards, the Queen Victoria Street protest (where the teenager, aka EpicNoseGuy, was issued his summons) is policed by the City of London Police, and the Tottenham Court Road one by the Met. The Met don't seem to care if the CoS get called a Cult.

Also, in fairness to the CoLP Cops, they didn't stop anyone chanting cult, and let signs that didn't directly call the CoS a cult, but did use the word, stand. Overall the police have seemed very professional and well-disposed to the protests.

Anonymous Coward
The plod said: 'Following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service some demonstrators were warned verbally and in writing that their signs breached section five of the Public Order Act 1986.'

Incredible, the CPS can make a judgement on that in minutes; yet 6 months ago one of my neighbours was racially abused in front of witnesses. We brought a complaint to the police who took statements and referred it on to the CPS - they still haven't come to a conclusion whether or not there will be a prosecution.

Guess we should have let Xenu into our lives to guarantee swift justice.

Mike Richards

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